Afterburn (2025) Inaugural Entertainment/Sci-Fi-Action RT: 106 minutes Rated R (strong bloody violence and language) Director: J.J. Perry Screenplay: Matt Johnson and Nimrod Antal Music: Roque Banos Cinematography: Jose David Montero Release date: September 19, 2025 (US) Cast: Dave Bautista, Olga Kurylenko, Kristofer Hivju, Samuel L. Jackson, Eden Epstein, Daniel Bernhardt, Kevin Eldon, George Somner, Phil Zimmerman, Robert Holik.
Rating: ***
A single thought kept going through my mind as I watched the post-apocalyptic sci-fi actioner Afterburn this afternoon: “This is some silly s***!” I knew it would be going in. It was a last-minute booking at my local multiplex. They’re only showing it twice a day. Also, it’s September. ‘Tis the season for dump movies.
What I didn’t expect from Afterburn was to be as entertained as I was. So help me, I actually liked it. It’s like a throwback to all those cheap post-apocalyptic flicks that came out in the 80s only with more of a budget. The only thing missing is a has-been actor or two. I don’t know about you, but I don’t consider Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Place) a has-been. He’s still a star to me. The story is a mix of The Road Warrior, National Treasure and Inglorious Basterds. It has a goodly amount of graphic violence and plenty of action. It’s the ideal movie for a Saturday matinee.
Afterburn is set in a bleak future where all technology was wiped out by a solar flare about ten years earlier. The world has descended into chaos. Food and fuel are scarce. Governments have been replaced by ruthless warlords like Volkov (Hivju, Game of Thrones), the villain of the piece. He rules with an iron fist executing anybody who dares defy him.
The hero of Afterburn is Jake (Bautista, Guardians of the Galaxy), a loner who makes a living as a treasure hunter. He finds lost valuable objects. His dream is to fix his boat and live out his life sailing the oceans. His latest, and supposedly last, job involves him going to Paris to locate the Mona Lisa. A powerful rich guy named King August (Jackson) collects such items. It’s a dangerous place to go and Jake doesn’t really want to do it, but King convinces him to take the job.
Once he gets there, he’s to meet with his contact, a bad ass named Drea (Kurylenko, Quantum of Solace). She will help him locate the Mona Lisa while fighting off Volkov’s men. He too wants it. It’s a race to see who gets to it first. Of course, there’s more riding on the mission than saving a valuable work of art.
Going into the weekend, I thought Afterburn would be the film I’d like the least. It turns out I like it the best. It’s not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a little longer than it needs to be. The acting isn’t especially good. The plot is dumb. It’s pure B-movie hokum! That’s precisely why it works. Director J.J. Perry, reuniting with his Killer’s Game star Bautista, serves up plenty of action and violence including a great scene involving a train, a bridge and explosives.
Bautista is a decent enough action star. He displays the same emotional range as Schwarzenegger in his early films. Hivju hams it up as the bad guy. Kurylenko is still easy on the eyes. Jackson gets to say his favorite two-word/twelve-letter phrase at least once. Like I said, it’s not great acting. It is, however, the level of acting the material requires.
I honestly don’t have much more to say about Afterburn. What else can I say? It doesn’t lend itself to deep analysis or interpretation. It is what it is, a dopey post-apocalyptic sci-fi actioner. I’m actually surprised it got a theatrical release. Normally, a movie like this goes right to streaming platforms. I have a feeling it will get there soon enough. Save it for a Saturday afternoon. You won’t be totally sorry, but you might owe your brain an apology afterwards.
